London Welsh were given a baptism of fire on their Aviva Premiership debut as they suffered a heavy loss to Leicester.

Leicester’s Anthony Allen is tackled by Joseph Ajuwa of London Welsh (Picture: Getty)

Leicester roared into a commanding lead thanks to two Thomas Waldrom tries and claimed a bonus-point victory after last season’s Championship winners had threatened a comeback at the Kassam Stadium.Welsh went through a lengthy appeals process to secure their place in the Premiership, which was confirmed at the end of June.Coach Lyn Jones said: ‘The knock-on effect is in the detail. We knew we just did not have enough time to put that in.’Welsh were exposed to the harsh realities of the top flight early on as England fly-half Toby Flood kicked a penalty and played a key role in the build-up to Waldrom’s first try. The number eight’s second came on the back of two rolling mauls to put the Tigers 17-0 up.The newcomers belatedly found their feet and Tom Arscott slipped between two defenders to touch down for a debut try.Centre Hudson Tonga’uhia then caught the Leicester defence napping to canter over in the corner.But the Tigers reasserted their authority within 90 seconds of the restart. A powerful maul set Geoff Parling free for an easy finish out wide which Flood converted.And although Gordon Ross slotted a Welsh penalty, the Tigers were in control as Julian Salvi and Vereniki Goneva wrapped up the win with two converted scores.Tigers coach Richard Cockerill said: ‘If you are not on your game, Welsh will punish you.’